The release of greenhouse and acid gases into the air produces local and global effects on the environment. The combustion of fossil fuels generates acid gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur oxides (SO2 and COS), sulfides (H2S) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Fixed combustion sources, such as coal burning power plants, generate significant acid gas emissions released in their flue gas. The capture and removal of the acid gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur oxides (SO2, SO3, COS and H2S) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from flue gas will become an even greater issue as coal becomes more prominent in America's future energy consumption. The capture of significant amounts of greenhouse and acid gases from emission sources is desired to reduce the environmental effects of these sources.
Current aqueous flue gas scrubbing technologies are typically too energy intensive to be used industrially or often require the use of toxic materials which further complicates implementation. Various current aqueous scrubbing technologies remove sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides from flue gas trapping these acid gases as the basic salts of their acid gases (thiocarbonates, dithiocarbonates, sulfites and nitrate) using a highly basic solution of caustic soda or lime. In these examples the binding is stoichiometric and irreversible and results in a base that cannot be reused. What is needed therefore is a way of providing an effective method of removing acid gasses that over comes these deficiencies that exist in the prior art embodiments. The present invention provides such a method and system.